The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-10-14
Face About Inc sea.

Facts About the Sea.
The sea is the reservoir into which.
run all che rivers of the world. 1t is
the cistern which finally catches all
the rain chat falls, not only upon it's
e=a s;:=tsee hsst@ surface 81
the land and upon the roofs OF our
homes. All this water il removed
again by evaporation as fast as it is
supplied. It is estimated that every
year a layer of the entire sea-, four
teen feet thick, is taken up into the
clouds. This vapor is fresh, and If all
the water could be removed in the
same way and none OF IT returned, IL
is calculated that there would be left
q layer Of pure salt two hundred aud
thirty feet thick on the bed of the At
lantic.
This is upon the superstition that
three feet depth Of water contains one
inch depth OF sGlt, and that the aver
age depth of the ocean is thrae miles.
At q depth OF about three Thousand
FIVE hundred feet the temperature is
uniform, varying but a trife between
the poles and the equator. The Gold
or water is below. 1t is reported that
in many deep bays on the coast of
Norway, the water often begins to
freeze at the bottom before it does at
the surface.
At this depth ave are not felt.
Waves do not travel,-that is. the
water does not move forward, al
though it seems to do so; it stays in
the same place. The rising andfalling
moves on.
We measure waves by their height,
and by the distant from crest to crest.
In deep water this latter distant is
about fifteen times the height OF the
wave. In shallow water the proper
tion is less, and this makes a choppy
sea.
The force OF waves is in proportion
to their height. 1t is said that the
sea strikes on Bell Rock with theforce
of seventeen tons for each square
yard.
The pressure of the water increases
as we 60 down. At the depth Of a
mile this pressure is reckoned at more
than a ton to the 5quare inch, that is,
more than a hundred andthirty-three
times the pressure OF the atmosphere.
To get correct sounding in deep wa
ter is difficult. A shot weighing thirty
pounds carries down the line. Through
this sinker a hole is bored, and
through the hole is passed a rod of
iron which moves easily back and
forth. In the end Of the bar d cup is
dug out, and the inside is coated with
lard. The bar is made East to the
line and a sling holds the shot on.
When the bar, which extends below
the shot, touches the bottom, the
sling unhooks and the shot slides Of.
The cup in the end OF the bar holds
some of the sand, or whatever may
be on the bottom, and a cover shuts
over the cup to keep the water from
washing the sand out. In this way
we learn the character of the deep sea-
bottom.
1t will be seen at once that we can
know the ~depressions OF the bottom
Of the ocean more easily and more ac-
~curately than we can learn the eIeva-
tion OF the land. AS d consequence
we have q better Typographical map
of much OF that surface than we have
Of the continents.
The depth of the sea presents some
interesting considerations. If the At
lantic we're lowered six thousand FIVE
hundred and sixty-four feet, it would
be- reduced to half its present width.
If it were lowered q little o than
three miles, there would be dry land
all the way between Newfoundland
and Ireland. If the Mediterranean
wore lnwornd aiw h41adra1 and civfw
feet, Africa wcald be joined to Italy,
and threesaparata seas geala remain
Youths Companion.